Courtyard House: I Rely on Time-Space Trade to Build a Nation

"boom!!!"

A violent explosion landed precisely about thirty meters in front of the entrance to the narrow plank road leading to Eagle Cave, sending up a cloud of rubble and dirt.

The explosion wasn't particularly powerful, but its precision and composure caused all the bandits to pause in their charge, their faces filled with horror.

Before they could even react...

"Whoosh—Boom!"

The second shell landed ten meters in front of the entrance to the boardwalk.

"Whoosh—Boom!!"

The third shot exploded almost right next to the edge of the walkway, the shockwave knocking over two bandits who were standing too close.

The three rounds of artillery fire landed in perfect unison, from far to near, as if measured with a ruler, clearly drawing a line of death: this road is impassable.

This is not a blind, overwhelming bombardment; it is a naked, extremely calm display of force and a precise warning.

All the bandits, including the few fierce leaders, froze on the spot, their faces drained of color.

They had fought wars and endured artillery fire, but they had never seen such a "reasonable" yet terrifying bombardment.

It was as if the mountain god was in a rage, precisely punishing every one who tried to cross the line.

On the front and flanks, those gray figures remained silent, neither charging nor shouting, only the cold muzzles of heavy machine guns pointing in this direction, and more gun muzzles vaguely appearing from the woods, also pointing in this direction.

An invisible, suffocating pressure, coupled with the fear of precise, unknown artillery fire, completely crushed the last vestiges of fighting spirit in this rabble.

"Clang." Someone threw down the old sleeve first.

"Stop fighting! We surrender!"

"I surrender! Spare my life, Eighth Route Army!"

Like dominoes falling, the sounds of weapons hitting the ground and pleas for mercy rose and fell.

Most of the bandits knelt down with their heads in their hands, and even the leaders, after exchanging pale glances, dejectedly dropped their weapons.

Faced with such an incomprehensible and insurmountable enemy, the thought of resistance had vanished.

The battle—no, it was more like a one-sided military deterrence exercise—ended with almost no real exchange of fire.

Zhao Ping'an calmly watched everything through his binoculars from the high ground in area C2.

He put down his binoculars and spoke into the walkie-talkie: "All squads, maintain alert. 2nd Company, move forward, take in the prisoners, and count the spoils. Be sure to search them and identify the leaders."

"Row 1, Row 2, continue to control both sides of the pass and remain vigilant."

"Well done, firepower platoon!"

His voice, calm and even, traveled through the walkie-talkie to the officers in charge of each unit.

It was as if the precise, surgical-like artillery fire and the overwhelming encirclement were merely the completion of a routine training exercise.

When Zhao Ping'an led his command personnel down the mountain and arrived at the rocky beach, the prisoners had already been gathered and guarded, and a small pile of miscellaneous firearms had been seized.

The soldiers, under the command of their officers, were orderly cleaning up the battlefield and keeping watch on their surroundings, their faces beaming with the excitement of victory.

It's more about a clear understanding of one's own strength and a strong sense of pride.

Especially the new recruits who joined later, their eyes all looked different.

Looking at the scene before him, and then at the dejected, even somewhat absent-minded prisoners, Guide Sun Laosan couldn't help but sigh to one of the officers beside him:

"I've lived this long, and I've seen plenty of bandit suppression operations in the mountains, but this is the first time I've ever seen a battle like this..."

They hadn't even actually started fighting, just setting up their stance and firing a few shots was enough to scare the crap out of them. You guys...you're like heavenly soldiers!

The officer smiled, looked at Zhao Ping'an's back as he inspected the captured supplies in the distance, and whispered, "They're not heavenly soldiers, they're our brigade commander. He's equipped us with all-seeing eyes and all-hearing ears, and a divine cannon that can hit any target."

Among the prisoners, the former Central Army's defeated leader was brought before Zhao Ping'an alone, his legs still trembling.

He stole a glance at Zhao Ping'an's young yet composed face, and at the well-equipped and disciplined soldiers around him, and finally spoke in a trembling voice:

"Sir...Sir, which unit are you from? This artillery...this news spread...too fast! We just retreated, and now we're cut off from our escape route..."

Zhao Ping'an did not answer his question, but only glanced at him indifferently.

That one glance silenced the fleeing leader completely, extinguishing any remaining doubt or glimmer of hope in his heart.

The easy forced landing and the victory with zero casualties were like a refreshing spring, clearing away some of the ingrained illusions in Zhao Ping'an's mind.

Previously, I subconsciously thought that having good equipment was just the foundation. For the troops to truly form combat effectiveness, they needed to undergo the brutal tempering of iron and blood, and forge the military spirit through sacrifice and victory before they could form combat effectiveness.

Just like the arduous and extraordinary war history in his memory.

But now, looking at these soldiers before him, their morale soaring, their hands brimming with unprecedented confidence in their equipment and the victory they had just achieved in what resembled an "exercise,"

Zhao Ping'an now had another idea in his mind: could combat effectiveness be achieved through equipment and technological advantages, as well as rigorous training?

Now, facing these bandits and even the non-core troops of the Central Army, Zhao Ping'an's Independent 6th Brigade, which he had personally built, already possessed an overwhelming advantage in equipment. This advantage was not only due to its superior firearms, but also its better communication, farther-seeing range, and more accurate shooting.

However, this clarity did not bring only joy.

His thoughts drifted involuntarily to the distant future, to the point in time when he clashed with the world's number one on the ice plains.

Will he be able to maintain his equipment advantage by then? It's hard to say. After all, he checked and found that he could easily exchange for more than enough army equipment, but for the air force and navy, Zhao Ping'an felt that 10 billion was just the starting point.

From this perspective, they might actually be at a disadvantage against a coalition force supported by both naval and air power.

When the technological gap between the two sides is no longer vast, and the opponent is even stronger in some aspects, can today's "technological crushing" victory with low casualties be replicated?

At that time, will we inevitably return to the most brutal consumption and sacrifice?

The thought of the potentially huge number of casualties cast a shadow over Zhao Ping'an's heart.

Training troops should not only develop their ability to win battles, but also consider how to achieve victory with minimal cost.

There must be a way to strengthen the military through science and technology.

Now I need to think ahead and find a solution.